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The NFL’s Big Test

Is the NFL ready for an openly gay player? We’ve been asking that question for a while, but after draft prospect Michael Sam’s brave coming out on Sunday night, there's a face at the center of the discussion. Opinions are mixed as to the answer, but one thing's clear: We're going to find out very soon

Michael Sam was named the SEC Defensive Player of the Year last season. (Brandon Wade/AP)

“Unfortunately, this is a lot more okay in society than it is in lots of locker rooms. Some locker rooms are still stuck in the ’50s.” —NFL scout

The news spread quickly across the NFL Sunday night. Then again, TheNew York Times report about mid-round draft prospect Michael Sam, the Missouri defensive end, coming out as gay two weeks before the scouting combine and 12 weeks before the draft wasn’t a surprise to every team in the league.

I spoke to four club officials Sunday—three general managers, one scout—and the reaction to a third-round prospect being gay ran the gamut. I spoke to all anonymously, because with such a touchy subject, I assumed all would either no-comment me (and one other GM did) or say something so sanitized it wouldn’t really be the truth. I don’t like to do anonymous sources to write an entire story, but I felt in this case it would give the best information possible.

“Should I really care?” one GM said. “Is it going to be that big a deal? Aren’t we beyond this?”

“It’s not a shocking thing to me, and it won’t be to our organization,” another GM said. “You’ll have old-school guys on your team saying, ‘Are you kidding, putting this guy on our team?’ And you’ll have other guys say, ‘Who cares? I knew two gay guys who came out in college.’ ”

“It’ll totally depend on your leadership,” the scout said. “A team with strong leadership at coach and in the locker room, like New England, I would imagine, would be okay. I could see Belichick say, ‘This is the way it is. There’s no story.’ And guys would just accept him. There’d be no choice. But without that strong leadership, I could see it being divisive, and I could see a team saying, ‘We don’t need this.’ ”

Two team reps didn’t know the story when we spoke, with me not naming names and simply asking what would happen if, as I expected, a gay player would be coming out before the combine. One GM said he’d heard that Sam might be the player. But the fourth, a general manager, said he not only knew the story and that Sam was the player, but that his team had discussed it at draft meetings in the past few days.

“We talked about it this week,” the GM said. “First of all, we don’t think he’s a very good player. The reality is he’s an overrated football player in our estimation. Second: He’s going to have expectations about where he should be drafted, and I think he’ll be disappointed. He’s not going to get drafted where he thinks he should. The question you will ask yourself, knowing your team, is, ‘How will drafting him affect your locker room?’ And I am sorry to say where we are at this point in time, I think it’s going to affect most locker rooms. A lot of guys will be uncomfortable. Ten years from now, fine. But today, I think being openly gay is a factor in the locker room.”

I asked this general manager: “Do you think he’ll be drafted?”

“No,” he said.

Sam is from Hitchcock, Texas, near Galveston on the Gulf Coast. He led the SEC this year in combined sacks and tackles for loss and was voted the SEC Defensive Player of the Year. But he is smallish for an NFL defensive end or pass rushing outside linebacker at 6-1 ½ and 260 pounds. He earned unanimous first-team All-America honors for Missouri, and teamed with first-round prospect Kony Ealy to form one of the best pressure rushing combinations in college football. Before the bombshell, Sam was rated as a third- or fourth-round prospect by many draft outlets. Mel Kiper had him as a fourth-rounder, pre-announcement, on ESPN Sunday night.

As a 4-3 defensive end in college football, his size is good and acceptable, even if he’s not as athletic as some smaller defensive ends. But NFL personnel people fear that a player of his size who is not very quick will be neutralized by the bigger, athletic NFL tackles. But there are some teams that use lots of situational pass rushers who could find a role for Sam if he were a good and willing special-teams ace. And it’s likely he would be. He has a reputation for being a team guy willing to do what his coaches ask. His teammates at Missouri obviously like him a lot. He told them about his sexuality before last season, and they kept his secret for him.

“A team with strong leadership at coach and in the locker room, like New England, I would imagine, would be okay. … But without that strong leadership, I could see it being divisive, and I could see a team saying, ‘We don’t need this.’ ” —NFL scout

“I just wanted to make sure I could tell my story the way I wanted to,” Sam told the Times. “I just want to own my truth.”

Three of the four men had praise for Sam for coming out before the combine. Whatever the reason for Sam’s wanting to make his sexuality public, doing it now allows teams to meet on the issue, discuss it at length and interview him about it. “The big factor here is that the initial storm will come now, and not after he’s drafted, like maybe he was trying to hide it,” one GM said. “That’s a big factor in his favor. Very big.”

As this GM said, if a player makes a bombshell announcement before the combine and allows every team to interrogate him about it, he stands a better chance of the story burning out before the player ever reports to training camp. What could doom the player, he said, would be hiding this when it was likely to come out—either by the player or some other way. Teams do not like surprises. If they knew Sam came out to his team at Missouri last year—which is the word on the NFL street—and then wouldn’t tell teams before the draft, his team could feel betrayed.

The first GM—the one who seemed not to be fazed by the announcement—asks the questions that much of society would ask. Should this matter as much as it will matter over the next few days? But Jonathan Vilma, the veteran Saints linebacker and team leader, told NFL Network last week he thought a gay player “would not be accepted as much as we think he would be accepted.”

“Unfortunately,” the scout said, agreeing with Vilma, “this is a lot more okay in society than it is in lots of locker rooms. Some locker rooms are still stuck in the ’50s.”

That’s why it’s naïve to suggest Sam’s coming out will have no effect on where he’s drafted, as the respected Kiper said on ESPN Sunday night. It could be that a liberal owner and progressive coach like Jeffrey Lurie and Chip Kelly of the Eagles will not care at all, and if he’s there in the fourth or fifth round will grab him.

More on Michael Sam

While we don't know yet how the NFL will accept Michael Sam, there is one word for his decision to come out, Jon Wertheim writes: progress. FULL STORY

Wade Davis, a gay former NFL player, was part of Sam’s support group over the weekend. He details how the decision came about and what it means for sports and LGBT athletes. FULL STORY

I believe the majority of teammates wherever Sam goes will be accepting and supportive. But we’ve just seen the damage caused by the Incognito/Martin fracas in Miami, and the quasi-caveman attitude shown all too often by players. And the team that takes Sam has to know what the trailblazing aspect of his presence will bring: the news shows as well as sports shows, the constant buzz when the team goes on the road, the slurs bound to come his way sometime. And they’ll have to decide if it’s worth it to say they’re going to do the right thing and admit a human being who is gay to the team.

During the draft, a team that has Sam graded barely above another pass-rush prospect in the third or fourth round may ask itself: Will all the distractions—the network news trucks, the questioning of his teammates about accepting a gay teammate—be worth it? Or should we just draft the other guy and not worry about Sam’s off-field stuff?

The Michael Sam news cycle has just begun. The NFL’s a very big deal in our society. Now we’ll see if he can be a football player only, and not the center of attention to the media and 32 teams in the league.

“We look forward to welcoming and supporting Michael Sam in 2014,” the NFL said in a statement Sunday night.

Everyone hopes that’s true.

The Schneider Effect.

Pete Carroll was hired as Seattle coach early in 2010, followed a week later by a Green Bay scout he didn’t know, John Schneider. It’s no secret Carroll has done a terrific job coaching the Seahawks, which we all can see. And Schneider has done a terrific job of personnel acquisition, which we all can see. But one thing about their arranged marriage that’s overlooked—I believe—is how two men who were thrown together have meshed into such a good combination.

Look how their drafts and player acquisitions have worked so well in such a short period of time. Remember: These two men have worked in concert for 49 months, and built an entire Super Bowl team, except for some scattered starters and contributors like Jon Ryan, Chris Clemons and Max Unger, in four offseasons. The breakdown of how 29 starters and key reserves or special-teamers got to Seattle in the Schneider/Carroll tenure:

Draft

Player

Year (Round)

T Russell Okung

2010 (1)

FS Earl Thomas

2010 (1)

WR Golden Tate

2010 (2)

CB Walter Thurmond

2010 (4)

SS Kam Chancellor

2010 (5)

G James Carpenter

2011 (1)

LB K.J. Wright

2011 (4)

CB Richard Sherman

2011 (5)

CB Byron Maxwell

2011 (6)

LB Malcolm Smith

2011 (7)

DE Bruce Irvin

2012 (1)

LB Bobby Wagner

2012 (2)

QB Russell Wilson

2012 (3)

RB Robert Turbin

2012 (4)

CB Jeremy Lane

2012 (6)

G J.R. Sweezy

2012 (7)

Undrafted Free Agents

Player

Year

WR Doug Baldwin

2011

WR Jermaine Kearse

2012

Practice Squad Imports

Player

Team Signed From (Year)

T Breno Giacomini

Green Bay (2010)

Waivers

Player

Team Signed From (Year)

K Steven Hauschka

Denver (2011)

CB/ST Chris Maragos

San Francisco (2011)

Trades

Player

Team Traded From (Year)

RB Marshawn Lynch

Buffalo (2010)

DT Clinton McDonald

Cincinnati (2011)

WR/KR Percy Harvin

Minnesota (2012)

Free Agents

Player

Team Signed From (Year)

FB Michael Robinson

San Francisco (2010)

TE Zach Miller

Oakland (2011)

LB/ST Heath Farwell

Minnesota (2011)

DE Cliff Avril

Detroit (2013)

DL Michael Bennett

Tampa Bay (2013)

* * *

A new concussion study, and questions.

An interesting new study by a team including Gregory D. Myer, the director of research in sports medicine at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, reports a correlation between a reduction of concussions and playing football at higher altitude. In the current issue of the Journal of Orthopaedic and Sports Physical Therapy, Myer’s group found that of the 300 concussions involving 284 NFL players suffered in the 2012 and 2013 regular seasons, there was a 30 percent reduction in the chances for concussion in games played at stadiums with an altitude of at least 644 feet.

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Myer’s belief is that an element called “brain slosh,” or how the brain moves inside the skull when concussed, is the key to a concussion. He says that at higher altitudes—Denver, for instance, is a mile above sea level—less oxygen and more blood flows into the brain, and the brain expands with more blood flowing into it. “That means the brain fills the excess space more inside the skull at higher altitudes,” said Myer. “There is less brain slosh.” Playing at higher altitudes, Myer theorized, increased the volume of what he called the “bubble wrap” inside the skull, creating a tighter fit and thus reducing brain slosh.

The study also looked at high school concussions, and found a concurrent 30 percent reduction in high school football concussions in games played at higher altitudes as well. Myer and his group think the NFL’s effort at stemming concussions, which is heavily based on improvements in helmet technology, is off base. “The brain already has a helmet,” Myer said in an email. “It’s called a skull/cranium.” No matter how good the helmet is, Myer thinks, the brain is going to move in it when struck violently.

So could this be the precursor to teams at high altitudes, such as Denver, having a built-in advantage in free agency because concussions are less likely to occur a mile above sea level? Myer admits more research is needed before concrete judgments can be made. He’s not alone there. Micky Collins, the director of the UPMC sports medicine concussion program in Pittsburgh and consultant to the Steelers, said: “That study is the first I’d heard of it, and it’s something I think needs to be reproduced in a larger sample size. Theoretically, I’m having a hard time wrapping my head around that.”

Asked if there is promise regarding the idea of reducing concussions from the inside out, as Myer suggests, Collins said: “I think it’s going to be hard to stop the egg yolk from moving inside the shell. Everyone is looking for this panacea.”

Myer might have found it. But he’s going to have to convince NFL neurologists of the value of his data.

* * *

Selling stock in football players.

(Greg Trott/AP)

So this company has sprouted up called Fantex, and it cut a check to San Francisco tight end Vernon Davis for $4 million a couple of weeks ago. Not that this is earth-shattering, because famous players make all kinds of silly money off the field. But this caught my eye because Davis didn’t have to do anything for the money. It’s his, free and clear, with this one proviso: Ten percent of all the money he makes in football and all football-related ventures (such as working in an NFL broadcast booth or studio after his career) goes back to Fantex—and you can profit from it by buying stock in Vernon Davis. Davis cannot discuss the deal until after the Securities and Exchange Commission approves it.

“The goal,” said Fantex chief executive Buck French, “is to have athletes in all sports. The motivation for them is to build their brand, and that’s the same motivation for us—help them build their brand so they can maximize their personal growth and their income.”

The idea is to find well-rounded players and potential future Michael Strahans and Cris Collinsworths, smart guys who have a lucrative future after they finish playing. Davis is a good candidate. He owns a small San Jose art gallery, sponsors the U.S. Curling Team (he’s in Sochi now), and is looking for more opportunities off the field. Plus, his next contract in San Francisco could pay for much of the $4 million Fantex investment. “Vernon is an intriguing player and person,” French said. Fantex will be in Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Boston and New York, in order, on Tuesday through Friday of this week so French and other Fantex executives can explain the concept to investors.

Quotes of the Week

I“I’m not naïve. I know this is a huge deal and I know how important this is. But my role as of right now is to train for the combine and play in the N.F.L.”

II
“Even with Stan Kroenke buying that stadium land, I would be surprised if there is an NFL team in the Los Angeles area in the next five years. I think the Rams will get a deal done to stay in St. Louis.”

—Sam Farmer, football writer at the Los Angeles Times, and the journalist most plugged into the future of the NFL in Los Angeles. You’ll hear his analysis of the NFL-in-LA situation on this week’s The MMQB Podcast With Peter King when it’s posted on Monday.

III
“Doug! We whipped their a–. That s— wasn’t even close.”

—Russell Wilson, 90 minutes after the Seahawks won the Super Bowl, to teammate Doug Baldwin in the Seattle locker room, as captured by Sports Illustrated’s Scott Price in his insightful game story in the magazine last week.

IV
“Guys feel like, ‘If I can do this, it keeps me away from maybe Vicodin, it keeps me away from pain prescription drugs and things that guys get addicted to.’ Guys look at this as a more natural way to heal themselves, to relieve stress and also to medicate themselves for pain. Guys are still going to do it.”

—Free agent safety Ryan Clark, in comments to ESPN about teammates on the Steelers using marijuana.

V
“He had a rare ability to illuminate the varieties of human ugliness. No one ever did it so beautifully.”

—A.O. Scott of The New York Times, on actor Philip Seymour Hoffman, who was found dead of a suspected heroin overdose on Feb. 2 at age 46.

“Greatest actor of his generation,” Charlie Rose said the other day when we spoke, and I absolutely agree.

VI
“All of his saves have come in relief appearances.”

—Ralph Kiner, the Hall of Famer slugger during one of the hundreds of Mets’ games he broadcast during his five decades in the booth with the team. Kiner died Thursday at 91. He was folksy, to say the least, and second in malaprops in baseball history to only Yogi Berra.

Stat of the Week

A Mass Mess

The MMQB’s Emily Kaplan tried to travel to the Super Bowl via mass transit with two fans. It didn't go well. FULL STORY

Actually, this stat is eight days old, but I fear too many of you missed it. My number of the week is 281.

That’s 281 minutes, or the time it took two fellows to make the eight-mile commute from Penn Station in Manhattan through the turnstiles at MetLife Stadium for the Super Bowl last week, and then back to Penn Station at the end of the game.

Four hours, 41 minutes.

If the game is ever to return to New York/New Jersey, the league and the home site are going to have to do something about the insanity of the train situation that made the commute miserable for so many people. You cannot ask a region used to driving to a stadium that seats more than 80,000 people to not drive at all—or to charge people $150 for very limited parking passes that would have allowed them to drive.

Factoid of the Week That May Interest Only Me

Pete Carroll, players’ coach. That was one of the storylines, and rightfully so, of Super Bowl week. I saw one aspect of it, as the Pro Football Writers of America’s pool reporter for Seahawk practices on Wednesday and Friday before the game. The music. Much has been made of Carroll playing loud music from the start of practices to the end. But I noticed one thing—and you will too, when you see these playlists:

See? Sort of Hip Hop Lite Wednesday, and more hard stuff Friday. That’s because the dynamic of the playlist changes at the end of the week. Seems that Carroll programs the tunes early, with a nod toward the players’ tastes by Friday.

“On Friday, I’ve got to give it to the fellas,” Carroll told me.

Mr. Starwood Preferred Member Travel Note of the Week

The most annoying thing about air travel, February 2014 Edition, from a Delta flight last week: The guy in front of you who not only reclines his seat completely so it’s in your face, but is a bulbous guy who then falls asleep with his two meaty hands (meatier than “Man Hands” in Seinfeld) stretched behind his head over the seat and into your airspace.

So I bit them off and spat them out on the floor.

Tweets of the Week

I“Our coaches and players knew all along about this and noone said anything. Just show the amount of respect we have for our family.”

I think that’s great … and I’m sure it is a hugely impressive number. Does accurate mean “catchable?” And I need context. Anyone else close?

Ten Things I Think I Think

1. I think the NFL could write a book on having one’s cake and eating it too. The one thing that jumped out at me from the news that CBS has bought eight early-season Thursday night games is that the league gets to simulcast the games on NFL Network. Certainly the NFLNet ratings will be severely diminished by the games also being on CBS, but just as certainly the ratings will be higher than anything else NFLNet would put on at the time. And CBS wasn’t the only carrier the NFL asked to do this—the league mandated it as part of the package for all bidders.

2. I think Jimmy Graham is a tight end, regardless of where he lines up on the field. It’s ludicrous there’s even a discussion about whether Graham should be tendered as a tight end (at a franchise number of $6.8 million) or wide receiver (at $11.6 million). Watch the game today. You see how often teams split out tight ends and even fullbacks. Remember the San Francisco-Baltimore Super Bowl, when the 49ers split out tight ends and even fullback Bruce Miller consistently during the game? Splitting a player away from the formation doesn’t mean he’s not what he is defined as. It’s going to be a sad day for football if head coaches like Sean Payton have to consider when they formulate a game plan, “Well, I can’t flex Graham out too often, or he’ll be considered a wide receiver.” Just a stupid, stupid can of worms that has been opened up.

3. I think there is one TV-related wish I have for 2014, as long as we’re on the subject: another one of those 11:35 p.m. Sunday night starts, a la San Diego at Oakland from last fall. The West Coast fans deserve one game that happens in their prime time—and I would love one I could watch all the way through after the NBC Sunday-nighter. When this game aired, I couldn’t believe all the folks interacting with me on Twitter, crazy about having a late-night gift from the football gods. Alas, because most of the Eastern time zone (with 48 percent of the TV households in America) is in bed, the NFL has no interest in another 11:35 p.m. start, I’m told.

4. I think my readers would say this to Howard Katz, the NFL’s schedule and TV czar: We want Denver at Seattle to open the season on Sept. 4. That’s not me, necessarily, though I’d certainly like to see it. That was the decisive sentiment from readers after I posed the possibilities for the NFL’s first game next season. Not sure Peyton Manning or John Fox would like it, but they’ve got to play it sometime. Why not when the weather’s likely to be best?

5. I think Seattle’s 2012 draft should be a clarion call to the smart people in our business to knock off draft grades. They are stupid. They are mindless and misleading candy for fans and those who think no one remembers what’s written or said 10 minutes after it’s published or aired. I looked back on the comments from the days after the 2012 draft—in order, Seattle’s top four picks were Bruce Irvin, Bobby Wagner, Russell Wilson and Robert Turbin—and the only good draft grade I found while searching over the weekend was a “B” from my buddy and veteran NFL scribe John Czarnecki of FOXSports.com … even though now that class, after just two years, produced the offensive and defensive signal-callers (Wilson and Wagner) of the Super Bowl XLVIII champions and was clearly the best draft of any team in the league that year. As Czarnecki wrote: “Coach Pete Carroll is hoping Wisconsin quarterback Russell Wilson (75th overall pick) develops into Drew Brees. The knock on Wilson is his height; he’s only 5-foot-10, a tad shorter than the 6-foot Brees. But he can throw a deep ball, is very athletic and off-the-charts in the locker room. He can be a great leader.” Sampling other grades:

• NFL.com: C-plus. Seattle “took a lot of chances.”
• CBSSports.com: C-plus. Seattle “took Russell Wilson in the third when they just signed Matt Flynn. Why?”
• SI.com: C. “Russell Wilson has a bright future, even if Seattle really didn’t need him.”
• Mel Kiper: C-minus.
• Bleacher Report: D. The Seahawks “messed up … with Russell Wilson after having signed Matt Flynn this offseason.” (Another Bleacher Report draft review gave the Seahawks the only “F” grade in the class.)
• USA Today: Didn’t grade drafts with a letter, but basically did the same thing, ranking the drafts from 1 to 32. Seattle was 26th.

6. I think I am fascinated to see what kind of linebackers coach Mike Vrabel will be in Houston—and, three or four years from now, whether he starts climbing the ladder to coordinator or future head coach, or both. Strikes me as a potential rising star in the business.

7. I think I have one comment about Seattle linebacker K.J. Wright saying the Seahawks would beat Denver 90 out of 100 times: He’s right.

8. I think Jon Runyan, the former Eagles tackle and current U.S. congressman from New Jersey, has tasted politics and had enough of it. He will exit after two terms. His second term expires next January, and he’ll head back to private life and his wife and three kids, one of whom will follow in his footsteps as a football player at Michigan. Jon Runyan Jr., a high-school junior offensive lineman, was an early commit for Michigan, and will begin play there in the fall of 2015, eight months after his dad exits the halls of Congress. “Politics shouldn’t be a career, and I never intended to make it one,” said Runyan the dad.

9. I think Carolina’s Greg Hardy—just 25, and coming off a 15-sack season—could be the jewel of free agency if the Panthers let him get away. Young pass rushers are what every teams wants, and there are teams with lots of cap money (Oakland comes to mind) who could make Hardy think twice about going back to Charlotte.

10. I think these are my non-football thoughts of the week:

a. Headline of the Week: “Beloved Deaf Composer Seems None of the Above,” from the Friday New York Times, about a man in Japan who passed himself off as deaf (which he is not) and a composer (he paid a ghostwriter to write music in his name), and for years was beloved (which he won’t be now) as a hero musical underdog.

b. Fifty years ago on Sunday, The Beatles debuted in America on The Ed Sullivan Show (in the Manhattan theater where David Letterman’s show is now produced) with “I Want To Hold Your Hand.’’ Never knew that, after the show, they recorded another set that was played, to another ratings bonanza, on the show two weeks later.

e. Thank you, A-Rod, for accepting your suspension and not subjecting the world to your bunk for the next two months.

f. What an admirable figure Joe Tacopina is.

g. And I say that in absolute jest.

h. Coffeenerdness: Ground Central, on East 52nd in Manhattan, was the site of my first business-meeting-at-a-New York-coffee-shop the other day. You passed the test very nicely, Ground Central, with that swell and comfy back room.

i. Beernerdness: Tried Carib, the lager from Trinidad and Tobago, the other day. Not bad. A tad stouter Heineken.

k. Charles Barkley is such a one-of-a-kind analyst. On a conference call to promote TNT’s NBA All-Star Game stuff next week, Barkley said of the Nets, a team on a 12-4 streak at the time of his words: “The Nets stink, man … They’re beating up on a bunch of ugly chicks in the Eastern Conference. Don’t act like they’ve got a good team. Stop it.”

And when Sams is diagnosed with AIDS, do they still let him play and bleed with everyone else? And do we feel sorry for Sams with AIDS because he chose to do the unnatural thing, and practice homosexuality? Sorry, I believe this was a bad decision, to let a homosexual into the NFL, or any other sport period. There is a reason homosexuals CANNOT give blood, and CANNOT donate their organs after death; it is because they spread diseases like AIDS, hepatitis, syphilis, gonorrhea, and TB just to name a few. The heterosexual community can thank the homosexuals for bringing back syphilis and gonorrhea into the mainstream.

Between sports and the military i've spent a lot of time with my junk in view of other men. Most men have. It turns into a sort of contest to see how we can check each other out covertly without seeming to be too interested. Fact is; we ARE interested; if not for sexual reasons, at least for machismo ones. In a seemingly straight atmosphere like a shower after a contest one would think there would be no interest in each others' sex organs or bodies, but the opposite is true! And, believe me, there are plenty who have more prurient interest, as well! Sam will be just another sweaty body in the locker room.

"The NFL''s Big Test?" The NFL has nothing to prove here. Sam does. The fact is that Sam is a homosexual. The other fact is that Sam is a late draft pick, if any at all. He had one good year in college and stunk in the Senior bowl. But the NFL and teams can't win here; They'll be called bigots and homophobes for not drafting him and celebrating him as if he was the greatest player in the draft.

If people think a openly homosexual man can be in a heterosexual lockerroom, they are ignoring the obvious issues. There are reasons why women don't like to share showers and bathrooms with men.

I'll be glad when the draft passes so we can stop reading about Sam and how the rest of the world is bigoted and intolerant for not being a fan.

Does it matter if he is gay? The decision for Sam to make the announcement of his sexual orientation will make his path to the NFL rough. Unfortunately, I think that this will make his stock in the draft to plummet. If Sam is in the final group of players in a teams draft room then the tie breaker will be about him being gay. I don't think the distractions that he would bring to the team would be worth it, even if he is in the 5th or 6th round. I don't believe it will be his fault or anyone else's, except the media for threatening Sam's NFL career. I do not think anyone cares that he is gay, other than the media. The media has made this the main topic in the NFL news. If a coach puts him on the bench or cuts him from the team I think the coach will be made out to be a "Bigot" as was his father. His father was vilified for being unsettled by what to him was shocking news. So what, his dad did not know. It is not like he disowned him. I read that his dad said he loved his son and wishes him success in the NFL regardless of his sexual orientation. It seems that he is a good person that just wants to play football at the next level and I believe him to be brave for what he did. There are gay actors and actress's out there, but I do not see anyone making it a big deal. Why is this such a significant deal for a professional athlete to be. Because Sam is gay doesn't mean that it will affect how he will play on the field.

Well, unfortunately those people who are stuck in the fifties are OLD now, and will die, and be replaced by people who have beliefs more in line with people today. Good for Sams, good for Missouri football, and good for progress. Not a lot needs to be said, but I fear people will say it anyway...

If Michael Sam has a thick skin and the talent to ball in the NFL, he will likely be alright. If he doesn't have those things, it will likely turn into something else. I would like to see him succeed on his talent, not something else.

Its funny to hear the hateful people here talk about how the "vast majority" of folks think the way they do...maybe 10 - 15 yrs ago, but times, they are changing indeed. And all of your vitriol toward homosexuals amounts to nothing more then pi**ing in the wind. And the sweetest irony of all will be when your son or daughter comes out of the closet and puts this issue in your face for the rest of your hateful life.

You, Peter King, need to find the BALLS to tell your sources: Put your name on it or STFU. Sick of gutless journalists and their sources with this anonymous BS. Put your name on it, or just STFU. Sure that'll get censored, so I'll paraphrase it... put a name on it, or just shut the bleep up.

The 4th GM who "knew the story and that Sam was the player" is at best a liar and at worst a homophobe bigot. If as he says, they didn't "think he’s a very good player" then why would they spend any more time talking about him? If you don't want to draft him based on his football skillset, then what does it matter what his sexual orientation is? The truth is you wouldn't spend any more time than the absolute minimum speaking about him if he wasn't in your opinion "a very good player". And to say you discussed him coming out at draft meetings reeks out dishonesty and the GM's own personal agenda.

What an unbelievable coward. At least have the guts to speak on the record about this. But if you're this much of a dishonest bigot, I guess we shouldn't be surprised you want to stay anonymous...

And I am tired of having to hear about this endlessly, day and night, leading to nothing but the same old arguments. A guy projected as a mid to late round selection puts his name loud and clear in the limelight. Good luck to you, Mr. Sam, but I see this as a ploy, and not a simple matter of you wanting to let everyone know who you are.

@DrZin They could make a few private shower stalls available for those who would feel more comfortable with privacy. The Israeli Defense Forces make that option available for their gay soldiers who, by the way, have served openly since the early 1990s. On the other hand, if gays and straights in the US Military shower together, well, if it's good enough for the US Military it should be good enough for an NFL locker room.

@DrZin But the perverted libs do. One crackpot here is already calling for men and women to share showers and locker rooms and walk around naked together. Next it'll be adults and children out naked together, no problem.

@Michael88 Nope, unfortunately for your ilk, that isn't the case. It's simply a case of militant liberals forcing their views onto the rest of society. In California for example - gay marriage was voted down twice and overwhelmingly by the California voters - before a militant activist liberal judge overruled the will of the people of California. This in militant liberal language constitutes people *changing their minds.*

As for the NFL - most of the players are absolutely against this, but will be forced into PRETENDING to not mind, or else face the same militant liberal media backlash that Chris Culliver faced for daring to express his disapproval. So, once again, it's silence the opposition and then claim victory.

@mgleegs Or he is a GM hoping by floating this fear based crap out there it will cause all the other teams to pass on Sam so he can snatch him up in a later round. Teams try to undermine value of players they actually want. That may not be the case here, but it is possible.

@DaveC If only you lived in a country where you were able to choose what media you were exposed to, and were able to choose how much you heard about something, then you would be relieved of this burden, wouldn't that be great?

This point has been addressed over and over in the posted comments. Why is it so hard to accept Sam's explanation that his orientation was sure to come out, and indeed, had already started to come out, so he wanted to control the timing and method of his response. Wouldn't you be smart enough to do the same thing?

@HughJardonn@DrZin I see you're still using name-calling as a tactic. No one has called for men and women to share showers and locker rooms. It was only used as a point about social constructs based in the belief that in days long ago people believed men could not control their sexual urges. Now many people (straight men, in particular) tend to think gay men cannot control their sexual urges. There is no evidence to suggest as much. But perhaps the point is too nuanced for the name-callers to consider. Because if we don't agree with you, it must be because we have "an agenda!"

No one is forcing a view on anyone. People can hold onto their beliefs, but no one has the right to prevent anyone from pursuing a career or use intimidation to coerce him into giving up. Trying to prevent people from being openly gay in the NFL (or anywhere) isn't merely holding a belief. It is actively attacking another human being. No one is being silenced. People are allowed to express their opinions, no matter how unpopular. You are doing so now.

And, the judge was only upholding The Constitution. It is what America and its freedoms are based on.

@HughJardonn@Michael88 Have you taken a poll of most NFL players? Without such, you would have no way of knowing what they care about. You are assuming you know, because you are assuming it's not possible that these "macho," "aggressive" men you revere could possibly be open-minded enough to realize that their co-workers' sexual orientation doesn't matter one bit in their ability to win a Super Bowl.

@HughJardonn As it turns out, I have posted comments suggesting that people who are lowering the level of the debate - on either side of it - by calling names are off track. You seem determined to stick you your method of argument, and content to place the responsibility for civility on other people. It's not uncommon for people on both political sides of the aisle to assume they know the other's motives and tactics. Just as you assume there are people who want Same to succeed because he's gay, I could assert there are people who want Sam to fail because he's gay. In the end, only time will tell how this plays out. As one of those libs you seem to dislike so much, I can only say that I hope your vitriol works for you. You don't seem to be immune to the nasty self-righteous behavior you are accusing liberal of, so I guess we have that in common.

@Clink127 Honor whatever you want. He's the first openly gay player in the NFL (if he lasts). He will get a pass for the same reason this president gets a pass. He fits the left wing script, the left wing media will be championing him 24/7, and nothing must get in the way of his success if humanly possible, as far as they are concerned. My end game is the same as you claim yours is. If you haven't seen a single person suggest they want this guy to succeed simply because he's gay, that is fantastic and far out. However, I have no doubt there are many out there who want exactly that. I've been around and have talked to far too many so-called progressives to think otherwise for 10 seconds.

As for the rest, the self-righteous crap still ain't workin' for ya. I'll be the judge as to what I refer to and how often. I couldn't care less about having the respect of these nasty self-righteous libs here any more than I care what they call me. You wanna preach about name-calling, preach to them first, otherwise it is not respected. See how that works?

@HughJardonn But lots of players get a pass. I won't even honor the idea that he would get a pass if he behaved inappropriately, on the field or off, because he has no known history of such behavior. Getting "a pass" for being gay doesn't hold a candle to getting "a pass" for any number of things active players get away with these days.

I ask you, what's the end game. What do you want to see happen here? I want to see a person excel, or not, because they deserve it. I haven't seen a single person suggest they want him to excel simply because he's gay. (Though I have seen a lot of people suggest things that make me think they haven't followed the careers of college football stars.)

As for the rest...If you really don't care that people called you a bigot, maybe you shouldn't keep referring to it. The "he insulted me first" argument is noted, but not respected.

@Clink127 He'll get a pass in a lot of ways - exactly right, and that's my point. The way the media is frothing at the mouth over this story, and the liberal bent in which 90% of them operate under, there's no question in my mind that Sam will get every benefit of the doubt they can conjure up - including if hypothetically he were to try something in the locker room with someone. The liberal zealotry of the media is what I'm commenting on there.

As for me being called a bigot by these clowns. I couldn't care less. It's simply the hypocrisy - and I simply consider the source. FTR, the vast majority of the people I've insulted, insulted me first.

@HughJardonn I disagree with your assessment of how ANY media would cover ANY person grabbing ANYONE in the workplace. But it's such a pie in the sky notion scenario to even put forth. If you aren't suggesting that he might grab someone, then why even suggest it? Is there a common theme in NFL locker rooms of men grabbing other men's junk? Why does it only come up in reference to a gay guy? The media may give this guy a pass in a lot of ways, but suggesting that they would give him a pass for grabbing another teammate inappropriately suggests you think it's more likely to happen with this guy than it is with any other guy.

I have seen people call you a bigot. I don't know you, so I can't comment. I do think you've used language that is offensive, and I think you have jumped to conclusions about other people posting here, including myself. If you want to complain about being called a bigot, it's easier to do so if you're not also slinging insults.

@Clink127 Nope - I never suggested he might grab anything, I simply put forth a scenario in regards to the media, meaning that even if Sam did go as far as doing that, and the guy he grabbed took offense, the lib media would blame the guy he grabbed and call him a "homophobe" and all the rest. Because for the lib media, it's all about a gay guy playing in the NFL openly. It's the liberal media's "urges" that are the problem. Maybe you haven't called me a bigot, but most of the rest of the libs here have called me and anyone else agreeing with me that and worse.

@HughJardonn I haven't called you a bigot, but thanks for playing. You were the one who suggested he might look at his co-workers inappropriately or grab someone's genitals--a ridiculous suggestion. Not putting words in your mouth.

@Clink127 Yeah, I'm using name-calling as a tactic. LOL Just like every one of you here dubbing someone a "bigot" and the rest of the typical gibberish because that someone doesn't agree with you. As for me, it has nothing to do with whether or not the guy can control his urges. Nothing. And you people need to quit putting words in other peoples' mouths.

@o-scar Well, this would be fine and dandy, except that the rest of the NFL players will certainly be silenced, and if any of them who don't approve of this openly speak their minds about it, they will get the same treatment Chris Culliver got. They will be attacked and attacked mercilessly by that militant liberal media I have mentioned a time or two.

@HughJardonn@Clink127 Well I guess the entire Missouri football team that rallied around Sam had an "agenda?" I guess they succeeded, and ended up with a #5 ranking with the best defensive player in the SEC. They have nothing but kind words to say about him, and made the M in Missouri into SAM. The words around here that are unkind, come from the thoughts of the ignorant.

@HughJardonn Fair enough. I will admit that, given what I see as bravery in this situation, I would like to see Michael Sam succeed. Maybe that's because he's gay. I certainly knew nothing about him other than an ESPN alert when he was named defensive player of the year in the SEC (I'm a Pac-12 fan, and more of an NFL fan than any NCAA sport).

I don't think he's being given a fair shake on how he announced it. Everything I've read is that this was a story ready to break, and it would have made news either way. He had a lot of choices on how to address it, and I don't have a problem with him calling a press conference to address what was reportedly headed for news stands with or without him. I understand why it's easy to assign motive, but no one but Michael Sam and his close friends and family really know why he chose this path.

@Clink127 Okay, I'll give you that. I don't recall you personally calling me names. That said, I know damn well that many liberals, including in the media, want this guy to play in the NFL simply because he's gay. They HOPE it upsets the apple cart. One moron here said as much. IMO, if Sam wasn't gay, they couldn't care less about him one way or the other. They don't care whether Michael Sam makes it in the NFL, they care whether "gay" Michael Sam makes it in the NFL. I myself have NO problem whatsoever with Sam being gay nor with him playing in the NFL. Zero problem. My issue is with how he announced it, and with how it will play with the league and in the locker room(s). I also wait to see what happens if he isn't that great a player in the NFL, and what happens if he isn't signed, or if he's signed and cut later.

@HughJardonn I see, so only one of us is allowed to put words in people's mouths. Now you know what's important to liberals and not? You have no way of knowing how this guy will react to vulgar comments in a locker room, though I'm guessing he's been around that culture for quite a while, given his success so far in football. But it seems you'd rather keep assuming you know what will happen and how "militant" (you should see my arsenal of liberalness) liberals will respond. I have no way of knowing if or how Michael Sam will fare in the NFL. Other people may have called you names, but you haven't spent one second trying to rise above the fray. I have neither called you names, nor attempted to personally insult you. I disagree with you, and I'm stating my opinion. I'm sorry you don't like it.

@Clink127 Once again putting words in peoples' mouths. Has nothing to do with my "revering" anybody. I've been around enough football players in my life and I've heard enough of them. Football ain't tennis and it ain't ice skating. These guys have a different mindset than most other athletes, especially in the locker rooms, and they will not like having to change their entire locker room atmosphere in fear of offending this guy. Like I said, Chris Culliver and what happened to him is more than enough of an example of why NFL players will simply keep quiet about their disdain for fear of the militant liberal media's wrath. I don't have to prove this to you. Sooner or later it'll hit the fan - just as soon as someone does offend Sam by simply talking and behaving as they have throughout their entire career. Not to mention what will hit the fan if he isn't signed to a team somewhere. I can see the headlines now about the NFL being all homophobes - regardless of whether or not he can play in the NFL. That isn't what's important to libs. What's important is that a gay guy is in the NFL openly. Period.

Well, I think most people are tired of the story and wish it wasn't newsworthy. But you can't blame the media when Sam is the first man to acknowledge he is gay and wants to pursue a professional football career. And you certainly can't blame Sam, who merely wants to preempt the news story that was certain to come out.

The potential good news is that Sam will be drafted and go on to have a successful football career, and each successive gay football player will be less newsworthy.

From what's published so far, the GMs and scouts who were quoted are out of tune with the players, most of whom have been supportive. Times are changing - more rapidly than I would have ever guessed. Look at the sea change in the area of marriage equality. A few years from now, most people will look back and wonder what all the fuss was about. For the younger people, they already wonder why the old farts are so laughably riled up.

As an old fart, even I laugh at the way some guys are so concerned that a gay guy will see their stuff in the locker room. It really is pretty funny in a sad kind of way.